


Literary Tarot as Fannish Meta; or, John Winchester Meets a Wicked Pack of Cards

by Malkin Grey (malkingrey)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Meta, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-18
Updated: 2013-02-18
Packaged: 2017-11-29 18:04:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/689890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malkingrey/pseuds/Malkin%20Grey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was originally posted at <i>Making Light</i>, as part of the <a href="http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/010066.html#010066">literary tarot readings</a> parlor game in one of the threads over there. (Short explanation of the game: the idea is to do a tarot reading for a real or imagined personage, using works of literature -- broadly defined -- as the cards.) I'm reposting it here for completeness's sake, and because I think it stands alone as a piece of <i>Supernatural</i> meta.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Literary Tarot as Fannish Meta; or, John Winchester Meets a Wicked Pack of Cards

• This covers him, defining the problem space: _Moby-Dick_. Obsession, vengeance, and the quest for meaning. "Though in many of its aspects this visible world seems formed in love, the invisible spheres were formed in fright."

• This crosses him, showing the nature of his challenge: _The Count of Monte Cristo_. Life and love destroyed; a new life devoted to the destruction of all that destroyed the old.

• This crowns him, representing the best possible outcome: _Persuasion_. After victory in war, homecoming and a reunion with the lost beloved.

• This is beneath him, the foundation of the matter: _King Lear_. When you get right down to it, it's always all about family.

• This is behind him, where he has been: _Our Town_. The extraordinary blessing of an ordinary life and love.

• This is before him, where he is going: _The Grapes of Wrath_. Driven from home by forces too large to control; finding trouble, and a cause to fight for, on the American road.

• The Significator, defining the Querent: _Beowulf_. "Saving people. Hunting things." Hard-headed, hard-handed, and hard to get along with; nevertheless, a hero.

• His environment: _Wonders of the Invisible World_. The very landscape is full of signs and portents, and the devil walks abroad.

• His fears: _The Waste Land_. Broken images, a world without meaning, old traditions corrupted and old rituals gone hollow. "I will show you fear in a handful of dust."

• Culmination, how it all comes out: _The Vision of Piers Plowman_ (B-text, passus xviii). The Harrowing of Hell.


End file.
